Offset hinge construction for laminated plywood cupboards and doors



8, 1953 D. R. WILHELMI OFFSET HINGE CONSTRUCTION'FOR LAMINATED PLYWOODCUPBOARDS AND DOORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 31, 1950 |I|||||l.||||||||.-.|r

[NVEA/I'OR ZUDLEYH. M/JZHELMI Aug. 18, 1953 D; R. WILHELMI 2,648,870

OFFSET HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR LAMINATED PLYWOOD CUPBOARDS AND DOORSFiled May 31, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JZGZ 12.

' pwmyzz. MLHELMI,

C) fA/VEA/Z'OR Patented Aug. 18, 1953 U O I E OFFSET HINGE CONSTRUCTIONFOR LAMINATED PLYWOQD ouratmans AND DOORS Dudley It. Wilhelmi, Tacoma,Wash. Application May 31, 1950, Serial No. 165,285

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to an ofiset hin e construction forlaminated ply-wood cupboards and doors.

In modern kitchens it is a common practice to install metal built-insinks and cupboards which occupy a considerable wall area and in suchcases it is desirable to make the harmonizing cupboard casings and theirpartitions out of inexpensive ply-wood, and this requires that speciallyconstructed door hinges be provided that i can be attached to thecupboard by screws which extend transversely of, rather than parallelto, the ply-wood laminations.

Furthermore, in order to harmonize the cupboard structure with theadjacent built-in structure of the kitchen it is necessary to eliminatemolding and rib-like projections of all kinds from the outer surfaceportions .of the cupboard, including elimination of projecting hingeparts tour of the cupboard. To carry into efiect this feature, a specialhinge construction is .required, which it is an object of this invention.to provide.

At the present time cabinet makers, who are constructing cupboards andthe like out of Wood, 21

the time consuming and somewhat expensive= operations of rabbeting,painting and sanding which have heretofore been less expensive in themanufacture of the doors and casings of ,allmetal cupboards.

Accordingly, an important object of thepresent I invention is to providea construction for cupboards and other cabinets that will lower the costof wooden cabinet making to su ch anextent that men working at thattrade will no longer be subjected to the disadvantages mentioned in theprecedin paragraph, but will be enabled to compete successfully with themanufacturer of all-metal cabinets. My invention accomplishes thisobject by .providing, in a wooden cabinet structure, a novel door andhinge combination which makes it possible to dispense with rabbete ingof doors and use of stiles of ,a kind which mar the streamlineappearance of the cabinet and require additional paint and sanding, 'myinvention making it possible to hang all doors in such a manner thatwhen closed, their outer faces will provide for the cabinet asmooth,unbroken, continuous front surface.

It will be seen that, by providingthe cabinet with the aforesaid smooth,unbroken front surwhich, if present, would mar the streamline con- :2

face made up entirely of closed doors, a better appearance is producedthan is possessed by cabinet structures lwherein stiles or partitionsappear between adjacent closed doors, for in the latter instance agreater number of vertical cracks or meeting lines appear betweenadjoining structures reducing the number of which, along with the otheradvantages, makes it easier to keep the cabinet clean, while it morecompletely excludes outside air and dust.

Furthermore, this invention advances the art to Which it pertains inthat, for the first time, it makes it possible for the consumer toobtain flush, ply-Wood cabinets, attractive in appearance, easy to keepclean and capable of being constructed and painted at a lowered cost.These features are desirable, not only in kitchens, but also in schoolsofiices, hospitals and other habitations.

A more specific object is to provide for countersinkin parts of thehinge into a door structure in an improved manner sothat a singlecountersink or recess in the door will accommodate a plurality of hingeparts nestable therein.

Still another specific objects is to provide, for swingably attachingtwo doors to the front .edge portion of the cupboard partition-and atthe same height, a pair of mated, identically con- [structed hingeswherein an offset part of each member of the pair will occupy one-halfthe width of said partition, said mates being reversely mounted so thattheir attaching screws are staggered so as not to interfere with eachother.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will herein-afterappear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a' preferredembodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 15a fragmentary front perspective view of a' cabinet equippedwith my improved offset hinges.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the novelhingeconstruction showing the same applied to the end partition of thecupboard and to one of thedoors of said cupboard. Fig. 3 is'an enlarged,horizontal, fragmentary section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing infulllines the cupboard door closed and in dotted lines twp otherpositions of said door.

F ig. 4 is' a sectional' view of the hinge with adjacent structureomitted, the plane of section being indicated by the 14-4 of Fig. 3.

Fjig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a hinge s ru t r mbo yin h inn ice as applied to a partition wall of a cupboard, phan tom linesindicating the adjacent structure in normal and adjusted positions.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the hinge structure shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged exploded fragmentary view of the hinge in theright hand end portion of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a fragmental vertical section of a corner portion of thecupboard, having the novel hinge incorporated thereinto, the door beingclosed and the plane of section being indicated byline 88 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the same parts as thoseshown in Fig. 8 but with the door in partly open position.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on line of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section on line II-ll of Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a section similar to Fig. 10 except that the door has beenswung through an angle of 270 degrees.

Fig. 13 is a perspective View of the hinge receiving edge portion of adoor as it leaves the factory after having been shaped to receive thehinges.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the invention is therein shownapplied to a cupboard H1 having a top wall H, end walls i2, i201, abottom wall [3 and a vertical partition 14. The entire front side ofsaid cupboard is occupied by a series of doors [6, l1 and i8.

At the right hand end of Fig. 1 are shown twin hinges l9, each of saidhinges comprising a pivot pin 2!) (see Figs. 2, 3 and 7 to 13) whichswingably unites its wings 2| and 22. The wing 2| is angularly shaped,comprising end runs 23 and 24 united by a middle rightangularly offsetrun 25, the run 23 having a curled end portion 26 to receive the hingepin 2%; and the run 24 having counter-sunk screw holes 2?. The hingewing 22 comprises an attaching plate 28 provided with screw holes 29 anda pair of arms 30 which project right-angularly from opposite side edgesof the plate 28 at one end thereof, said arms being slightly taperedtoward their apertured outer ends 3|, which receive the hinge pin 20. I

Referring more particularly to Fig. '7, at they point where the curl 26joins the end run 23 there is a shoulder 32 at each end of said curl,the depth of each said shoulder being equal to the thickness of each arm39, so that when the apertures in the ends of the arms 38 axially alinewith the axis of the curl 26 the top face of the upper-most arm 30 willlie in the same plane as the upper edge of the end run 23. Each of saidarms 30 is also provided with a shouldered part 33 to cooperate with theaforesaid shoulder 32, so that the upper and lower outer edge portionsof the arms 30 will abut the inner face of the hinge part 23 when thedoor i8 is closed. When the hinge parts 2! and 22 have been assembled asaforesaid the head of the hinge pin rests upon the upper-most win sothat gravity maintains the pin in its operative position.

The aforesaid outer end run 24 of the hinge wing 2| is attached byscrews 24a to the outer portion of the inner face of the end wall In ofthe cupboard, and the offsetting middle run 25 of the wing 2| extendstransversely across the outer edge of said wall l2a so as to make itpossible to swing the door I3 from closed position through an angle of270 degrees until said door abuts in a flatwise manner against the outerface of said end wall, other conditions permitting.

Describing now the relation-ship of the hinge wing 22 to the door l8,said door as shown in Fig. 13, as well as in the other views, isconstructed of five laminations of ply-wood, and at each of the pointsof application of the hinge part 22 thereto, has its hinge Wingattaching face rightangularly recessed at 36 and across its edge isprovided with a pair of kerfs 3! in which to seat the aforesaid arms 30of the hinge wing 22. Each of said recesses 36 is of suflicient depth,not only to house the attaching plate 28, but ,also to provide over saidplate enough clearance so that when the door is in the closed positionthere will be sufiicient room in which to counter-sink the offset part25 o the hinge part 2|. In this manner, when the door I8 is closed, itsinner face will abut the entire front edge of the cupboard which itoverlies.

It will now be seen that by this invention there is provided, asillustrated in Figs. 2, 8, 9, l0 and 11, the advantageous manner ofsupporting the door between the hinge arms 30 so as not to sustain theweight of the door solely by the screws 48, but the weight of the dooris instead borne by the intact part 38 of the doorS edge between theaforesaid kerfs 31.

The dual hinge structure 50 shown in Figs. 5 and 6 differs from thehinge structure already described only in that the length of the offsetportion 25a of said hinge structure 50 is shown as approximately halfthat of the corresponding part 25 of the hinge structure just described,this being true when the partition M of the cupboard is of the samethickness as the end walls thereof. In said hinge structure 5!], it willbe seen that the hinge mounting runs 24 of the wings 2! are of areversible character so that one pattern serves for both of the twinhinges 58. Also an important point to be noted is that, since said hingeparts are reversible, when they are arranged in the manner shown inFigs. 5 and 6 their screw holes 2'! have a reverse relationship to eachother, so that when the screws are inserted their body portions will notinterfere with each other.

The hinges 50 are attached to the partition Id of the cupboard in such amanner that the door it can swing outwardly through an angle of degreesuntil it abuts in a flatwise manner against the front face of the doorl1, and the door I! can likewise be swung out through an angle of 180degrees so as to abut similarly against the front face of the door it.This is effected by providing each hinge attaching wing with theoffsetting run 25a and shaping and mounting the door carrying hingewings 22, as aforesaid.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that, when the hingestructure provided by this invention is used, it is possible to anchorthe hinges in a secure manner to the ply-wood partitions and doors ofwhich it is desirable to construct the cupboards and other cabinets usedin kitchens, and elsewhere. It should be understood that the presentdisclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that thisinvention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall withinthe scope of the subject matter claimed.

I claim:

A door hinge comprising a door carrying wing, a mounting wing, saidmounting wing consisting of a metal strap having two longitudinallyspaced apart rightangular transverse, reversely directed bends in itsmidlength portion thus producing offset longitudinally extending,oppositely directed end runs and between said bends an intervening,transverse run which extends at a right angle to each of said end runs,screws extending through one of said end runs and adapted to attach suchend run to the outer portion of the inner face of an end wall of acupboard so that said intervening run extends transversely across theouter edge of said end wall, the other end run of said mounting winghaving a curled outer end portion; said door carrying wing consisting ofa rectangular plate carrying at one end two arms which are spaced apartthe width of the plate and project rightangularly from the same face ofthe plate, said arms having apertured outer end portions, and a hingepin extending through the apertures of said arms and through theaforesaid curled wing portion thus swingably fastening together the twoWings of the hinge, said two arms being adapted to be countersunk intokerfs across the edge of a door and said plate being adapted to beattached to and countersunk into the adjacent face portion of said doorto a depth of at least twice the thickness of the plate, so that whensaid door is swung to a closed position in relation to the cupboard thecountersink in the door which contains said plate will also provide aclearance for the aforesaid intervening run of the mounting wing of thehinge, allowing the attached portion of the closed door to abut fiatwiseagainst the outer edge of said end wall of the cupboard.

DUDLEY R. WILHELMI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 106,170 Jones Aug. 9, 1870 1,120,898 Brandlein Dec. 15, 19141,821,606 Anderson Sept. 1, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date552,409 Great Britain Apr. 6, 1943 564,926 France Oct. 31, 1923

